Followers

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

It's
been a while since we've gotten one of these emails and all of a
sudden, we've gotten two of them, two days in a row. I thought I'd post
them, just like Kari of Retro Bakery,
to warn others about scams like these. In the past, I
wasted time responding to these requests, but can now spot these a mile
away.

Here's an email we received on Friday:

HelloMy name is Jennifer Williams am hearing impaired i
cant use phone,You can only email or text me verify any information,
that is why i chose to email you,I want to make order for 30 Dozen
individual Cup Cakes Chocolate Flavor and strawberry for my Dad's
B-Party and This is a pick up order so it will be pick up by 4:pm by my
private courier services on 14Th of December so can you handle that for
me and let me have the total cost plus tax so i can make the prepay
payment with my credit card,and let me know the TYPE OF CREDIT CARD YOU
ACCEPT OVER THE EMAIL ORTEXT ?My Text Only number: 256 346 5498Kind RegardJennifer Williams

A combination of some or all of these indicators set off an internal alarm that an order could be fraudulent:

5
comments:

Thank you for this post. I own a small cupcake shop in Danville, Indiana and I just today received THE EXACT SAME EMAIL from a "Jennifer Williams". I had been texting her back and forth for a few minutes and then she started asking me if she could pay me over $800 more to pay her courier in cash when he showed up. I got suspicious, googled the text number, and found your blog. Told "Jennifer" I couldn't help her out. Should have been suspicious from the start, I mean, who orders 30 dozen cupcakes and only wants two flavors! :)

Glad you posted this to confirm my suspicion. As soon as I read it I presumed it a fraud because of the poor grammar and courier comment... I decided to see if anyone else had seen it and there you were. Thanks!

I got a text message today saying this and went online to search the number, because it isn't local and I just make stuff for friends and family out of my home. Glad you posted this. Why would someone do this? What do they have to gain!

My name is Jennifer Williams am hearing impaired i cant use phone,You can only email or text me verify any information that is why i chose to email you,I want to make order for 120 Grilled Chicken Sandwiches and Chicken Salad for my Dad's B-Party and This is a pick up order so it will be pick up by 4:pm by my private courier services on 21st of December so can you handle that for me and let me have the total cost plus tax so i can make the prepay payment with my credit card,,and let me know the TYPE OF CREDIT CARD YOU ACCEPT OVER THE EMAIL OR TEXT ?

My Text Only number: 256 346 5498

Kind RegardJennifer WilliamsSubject: ATTENTION TO THE OWNER

Time: Sunday December 2, 2012 at 2:05 pmIP Address: 197.255.175.183Contact Form URL: http://dalevillealabamakitchens.com/contact-us/Sent by an unverified visitor to your site.